Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Cat Weatherill combines her fiery female energy with wondrous tales and has a beautiful singing voice

Cat
Weatherill is a professional storyteller who came to her art via a
stage career. She combined the two practices in a gripping tale by
Italo Calvino, called “A Siren Wife.” A vengeful husband in the
story casts his wife into the sea, because she was
unfaithful to him when he went off to make his fortune to foreign
shores. The sirens who live in a magnificent sea-floor kingdom
rescue the woman and rename her 'Froth'. The Siren wife never forgets
her husband; in an effort to rejoin him she brings doom and
destruction upon the sirens.

Weatherill
would at points break out into song to reinforce the pitiable state
into which Nina, the unfaithful wife was cast:

I
can't fight the ocean

I
can't fight the sea

For
it's ageless, fathomless and free.

Cat Weatherill tells the story of the Siren Wife by Italo Calvino

The
husband would give no thought to his wife, Nina, whom he was leaving
behind. She would labour ceaselessly in her garden where the
fragrance was like a bower to the god of love. One day, a prince
called Orlando came visiting and was taken with her looks, for she
was luscious, bright as pearls. Under his touch she opened to him
like an oyster. Orlando took her away and she led a life of leisure,
and he waited on her every desire, and would not leave her side. She
grew tired of endless attention and returned to her house. But when
the husband came back he smelt something amiss. The story goes on.
You may read more at:

Weatherill
has no qualms about changing the story to suit their own taste. In
Liverpool where she comes from there is a tradition of telling
stories. Unlike an actor who is enslaved to a script, storytelling is
more free. She uses the actor’s skill to convey the action and the
feeling in a story. She said she loves Indian stories, but thinks she
cannot bring to them the necessary colour they need. Women
are living longer and the tales of their middle years need
to be told. The next day Weatherill would be telling stories for
children. “The most important thing is to enjoy your story,” she
said.

Posted by
Management - Learning from Experiences by Reflection
at
3:51 PM